Falling From Grace
by Cascading Rainbow
Summary: This is my sucky story. Beware. About how the Soul Corridor is turned upsidedown the second Mima Ruih enters it... These first two chapters are the only ones ever written they're the only ones that are ever going to be written.
1. Prologue

Prologue

_There was nothing here._

_Nothing at all._

_Really._

_Nothing._

_That's right, nothing._

_Well, what's the crackle of leaves as someone steps on them?  
Yes, the soft, sweet rustle._

_And the river gently flowing downstream, what's that?_

_Gentle river drifting here and there, anywhere, nowhere in particular._

_Colors deliberately swirling around_

_The hesitant touch of wind_

_The feeling of soaring above the clouds_

_And never wanting to return home again_

_Just the taste of sugary sweetness_

_Pure, soft, yet lingering always and forever_

_And then, as the bright light returns to your eyes_

_Realization hits upon mind, that it was all a façade_

_And it still is._

_The sense of humidity_

_And the sensation of water dripping down your forehead?_

_Well, what's that?_

_The feeling of being left alone_

_All alone_

_And no one to care_

_You see, there's really nothing at all here for you._

_No one wants you._

_You're not needed nor wanted._

_In plain words...._

_YOU DON'T BELONG HERE!_

"WAKE UP, you CRAZY kodomo! WAKE UP!" an unfamiliar and instantly unlikable voice screeched in Mima's ear. "WAKE UP NOW! NOW!" This voice got louder.

Mima stirred slowly, and decided she really didn't want to wake up right now. Who was that? Had to be a woman. It was much too sharp and high to be considered one of a man's. Couldn't be Haruka or Ami, as neither of them talked so harshly like that. Haruka's voice was soft but strong, and Ami's was pensive, full of nervousness. Their voices were nothing like this. Maybe one of her teachers? Or some sort of nurse. Yeah, most likely a nurse. A very bad-tempered one, probably.

"I'm telling you, kodomo, AWAKE!" shrieked the monstrous-voiced lady. Mima sat up without any further delay.

"What is it? Is there a fire? What do you WANT?!" the girl screamed back, taking off her light-blue-rimmed glasses and rubbing her eyes.

"Good." The woman's prickly, prim voice replied. "You're awake."

"Of course I'm awake, you bakabrain. What are you, blind?" Mima muttered to herself as she cleaned her glasses quietly and put them back on. "And I'm no child."

"What's that?" the woman challenged Mima, staring at her as if she were some sort of germ on her thoroughly cleaned floor and tapping her foot endlessly, as if expecting for her to get up and get out.

"Nothing," Mima spat, glaring at the woman viciously and looking around. "Where am I?" she added.

"You are at the Soul Corridor Hospital." The female answered promptly. She took a deep breath and began again. "I am Yami Everlast, doctor." Mima nearly gagged. Everlast. What an awful, horrid name. But it suited the doctor. Pfft! She shouldn't even be a doctor. How old was she, anyway? Didn't seem that old, yet seemed at least three years older than Mima.

"Upon entrance to the Soul Corridor, they say that you passed out. A young hikari informed my staff of your fainting and we sent out a team of trained carriers to bring you here," Everlast finished in triumph.

"Whatever. Anyway, would you happen to know an Amane Moon that ... resides... here?" Mima asked hurriedly.

"You'll have to go look that up at your prepared Soul Room Phone Book." Everlast answered curtly.

"What's a Soul Room?" Mima barked at the now standing Everlast, at least five inches taller than the teenager. She stood up furiously.

"For that information, you will have to go to the Soul Corridor Information Centre." Everlast smirked.

"And where is that?" she both asked and answered Mima's question before the girl could ask it herself.

"Why, if you exit this hospital, walk to the door furthest to the left. At the very end." Now Everlast pushed Mima out the door, making no effort to answer Mima's next question, which was regarding Everlast's contract.

Outside the hospital (which seemed more like a professor's office rather than an infirmary), the petite girl squinted and pushed her glasses up to find the door "furthest to the left, at the very end." She groaned when it meant another long walk.

"Why me?" she complained. "Where the freak am I now, Amane Moon?" Mima scowled while pondering. "Where am I, and what the hell am I doing in a stupid 'Soul Corridor?'"

"Hey, Meemz."

Mima paused, nearly falling over. She glanced over her shoulder. "A......M...?"

"Boo." A figure mocked and tapped the girl (well, it was more of an extremely sharp poke to Mima) with her long, sharp fingernails from behind. "Miss me?" it taunted.

Mima groaned. "Oh, there you are. OK, AM, tell me what this place is. NOW!" she demanded of the goth.

Amane sighed. "Oh, do I HAVE to?"

Mima glared at her. AM took that as a yes. "Fine, fine, whatever, Meemz," she glowered. "This is Soul Corridor. You know how I explained to you about yamis and hikaris the other day?" Nod nod. "Alright then. This is where the soul rooms of the hikaris, yamis, and neutrals are located."

"I still don't get it."

"Truthful as ever, aren't you, Meemz?" It was more of an annoyed statement than a question. Nod nod. Amane glared at the fifteen-year-old. "Don't be a smart aleck, Meemz. That's my job," AM told her off. Mima smirked. AM motioned for Mima to follow her down the corridor the other way, and that, Mima did.

"Oh yeah, and AM?" Mima asked her best friend as she walked.

"What now?" AM replied.

"Eh... Well... You know how.. sometimes you can summon yourself to another world?"

The all-in-black female one year older than Mima stopped the girl before she could finish. "Lemme guess, Meemz. You want me to get you and some other people to the Inuyasha world, right?"

Mima grinned sheepishly. "Yeah."

"I know you too well," AM sighed.

"So... can you?" the 5'4" Chinese-Korean only child of the Vitones asked hopefully.

"I'll try." AM smiled, then stopped walking. Mima scooted back.

AM put one hand on the doorknob to a soul room labeled "Yami: Amane Moon," then closed her eyes. A few seconds later, she let go of the handle and let it open itself.

"This... is my soul room," AM introduced Mima to it. "You can simply see what I programmed it to let you see. If I don't program it to let you see anything, then you can't see anything. Simple enough?"

"Yeah, too simple." Mima snorted.

"Good. Well, you can go through the Soul Corridor Catalog and pick out your own furniture, or whatever. Got that?" Amane paused to let Mima take in the new information.

"Yep."

"Alright. Now... what would you do if I told you that you were a yami and we've just found your hikari?"

Mima froze. "If the hikari is anything like Riffie, oh great Kami, I'm dead."

AM smiled despite herself, then forced herself to express no emotion. "Follow me." With this she led Mima out the door, supplying them both with identical Soul Corridor Catalogs.

After a few seconds of flipping through pages, Mima finally spoke. "Hey, this is pretty cool! Item number forty-one-ninety-eight. 'A dream canopy, complete with fishhook and screw. Color: lavender.' What do you think?" Mima suggested to AM.

"I think that it's your room, so it's your choice how you decorate it," the otherwise unapproachable sixteen-year-old quietly remarked.

"Fine," Mima sighed, disillusioned. "Oh yeah.. and.. AM... how do I order this stuff?"

"Just pull out the piece of paper attached, fill out everything, and put it in your mailbox."

"Oh, okay," Mima stopped walking to fish inside her pocket for a pencil. "Thanks, AM."

"No hassle for me. I'm bored anyways," Amane expressed her amusement by merely half-smiling.

"K. Sorry."

"Whatever, Meemz." The monotonous-toned, almost eerily silent 5'6" Japanese-Filipina adoptee of her hikari's family replied.

They continued walking until they reached the end of the hallway to what seemed like a locked door. "What the-"Mima stopped. "Oh." The door opened automatically.

"Go first," the seemingly emotionless teenager instructed. Mima did as she was told. Oh, if only her father could see how she was right now, in an unfamiliar environment that held surprises with every door opened. Uh, reality check, Mima! It wasn't as if Jacob Vitone actually cared about his daughter's whereabouts. Mima had been neglected way too much in her fifteen years of life to actually believe the lie that her father paid attention at all. Nope. He wouldn't care. It was always, 'Please go away, Mima, I'm busy painting,' or 'I need some time alone with your mother, Mima.'

It was always difficult figuring out which mother Dad was talking about. Would it be Ami (Mima's biological mother and Dad's first wife), an ex-vampire from the States, whom Jacob left behind when the truth behind Ami's past was uncovered even though he knew she was with child, the soft soul who always helped Mima with her troubles, the one Dad was still in love with after all these years? Or was it Haruka, Dad's second wife, the strong-willed surrogate mother Mima was forever seeking advice from a couple of years ago, whom Mima thought was her real mother back then?

"Uh..... Meemz? What're you waiting for?" AM asked, growing even more impatient every second. "Hurry up and get in!" She rolled her eyes and waited as Mima tried to regain consciousness and break away from her daydream.

"Eh... sorry 'bout that. I was thinking about stuff." Mima smiled absentmindedly. She stepped through the open door, then waited for AM. Geez, it was dark in here. Hmm. Nice place for a graveyard or something like that.

Suddenly a light coming from what seemed to be thin air nearly blinded Mima.

"Hi-hi! I Michie!" squealed a high-pitched baby voice that seemed as if it was coming from the ceiling. No, that couldn't be right. No living person Mima knew could defy gravity and cling to the ceiling.

"Err... where... are you?" asked Mima, looking up inquisitively.

"Over here!" Now the voice sounded like it had been projected from the floor. "Nopeez, over here now, slowpoke!"

Mima looked up at the ceiling, only to be jumped on by what could possibly be the world's most happy child (that is, if Riffie weren't alive). "OY!" Mima furiously attempted to shake the girl off her shoulders, her voice now muffled.

"Michie was wait-waiting for you, Mima-Mima!" Michie chirped, still clinging to Mima's hair as though her life depended on it.

"Get OFF me!" shrieked the normally calm teen, bewildered by the unknown girl's ambush. Waaaiit a minute here. Hadn't AM said something about a hikari?

"In fact, I did. Michie, get off your yami." AM ordered the normally stubborn child, who miraculously obeyed.

"Mommy?!" shrieked the obnoxiously loud brunette blissfully, now hugging Mima.

Mima backed against the wall, scowling. "I don't know what galaxy you're in, but I'm not your mommy, and I sincerely feel sorry for her if she has to put up with YOU every day. I guess I'm your yami. Not your MOMMY, your YAMI." She poked Michie as she emphasized certain words.

After several moments of silence, Michie took a deep breath. "Michie doesn't have a 'mommy,'" she finally announced. "Michie has a 'Mother,' though, and Michie's mother doesn't likee Michie. Michie's mother don't likee Michie's father, either, and Michie no likee him either. All Michie's mother cares 'bout is 'the big cash' and her jewelry. And Michie's father says that he woulda' 'bandoned Michie's mother long long 'go, if it hadna' been fer Michie, he says," the garrulous adolescent shook her head to get her overly-lengthy light brown bangs out of her face.

"O...K." The somewhat-high-voiced yami was slightly taken aback at her hikari's third-person-point-of-view. "Well, does... Michie... want to live at Michie's home, or at Soul Corridor?"

"Michie wants to be happy again like Michie was when Michie little."

"Okay, and how old is Michie?" the ever-patient girl responded.

"Michie is nine." The girl held up eight fingers. "See? Nine. Oops." She put up another finger. "Nine."

"Oooooo....K." Mima sweatdropped. "Nine, huh?"

Michie nodded. "Yeppers, Michie is nine!"

"Al....right. Erm.... AM?"

"What is it now?" the girl responded wearily, turning off her Palm IIIxe and stuffing it in one of her gigantic pockets.

"Erm... Michie wants to be happy, and I'm not sure whether she wants to stay here or at her previous home. What do I do now?"

Amane rolled her eyes. "Take her to her house. Then... research the family situation and conclude for yourself what your hikari would prefer. She turned on her palm pilot yet again, scribbled a few notes down on it, and handed it to Mima. "Here. Read. Get information. Collect it. Use it to your best extent. Got it?" she shot at Mima.

"Yep." The casual clothed Mima was already lost in the information provided by the other yami. "Wow, this is really good."

"I've been taking notes like that since I was about five." Amane sounded irritated. She pulled her favorite sweatshirt's oversized sleeves over her too-pale fingers. "And if you think that's good, go check out the Soul Corridor Library's information folders. I used to get all my stuff from there. The things on your hikari aren't at the library yet, as I haven't sent it to them. I probably will next week or something like that, once I've got more on her. While you're going over to Michie's, make sure you take Kami." She tossed a tape recorder at the not-quite-ready Mima.

"Kami?" Mima looked at AM, suspicious. "Is this thing human?"

"No, of course not. However, I turn it human from time to time during drastic occasions," she sniffed. "Just press record when you have the time, and press stop when you want to stop it from recording. Record it when you get out of the house and your hikari and her family are alone together. That's when they'll probably start acting like themselves."

"Oh, okay. Thanks, AM." Mima started to walk out the door. "Oh yeah, and... erm... AM?"

"WHAT NOW?! Gimme my PDA." AM grabbed her device from Mima's hands, then smiled slightly for a split second.

"Erm.. .how am I supposed to get to Michie's place?"

"JUST WALK OUT THE DOOR, MIMA." AM bellowed, then pushed her out the automatic door as Everlast had earlier.

"WHEEEEEEE!"


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

There they stood, in the middle of the neighborhood. Why? What were they doing there? What were they thinking? No one should be appearing instantly like that, not even the Assigned. Unless, these two are theâ€..

No. Sakura shook her head. That wasn't possible. Those two looked nothing familiar. The two couldn't be the Protectors. The shoulder-length-brown-haired girl wrinkled her nose and shook her head wildly. Those two girls were probably just sent by Everlast, or maybe Cloud if they were lucky. They really couldn't have been sent by Varia, or even Amane. Not possible.

'Should I go up to them and ask them?' she asked herself. 'Nah, it's none of my business.'

Mima stared at the surrounding houses, wondering if it was all an illusion prepared by AM to make them believe they were here. She walked forward a couple of paces. "Michie?"

"Yeppers, Mima-Mima? What is it-it?"

"Is this your house?"

"Yeppers, Mima-Mima, this-this is Michie's housee heree." Michie pointed to the one at the dead end of the street. "That's Michie's housee. Oh, and Michie wants to know why you're wearing my school uniforms."

"Oh, okayâ€." Mima looked confused. She looked down at her clothes. URG! 'Why'd she put me in a SCHOOL UNIFORM like I was in grade school, or junior high?!'

"Michie?"

"Yeppers?"

"What school do you go to, and what city are we in?"

"Michie-Michie goes to Kamikawa Academy, and we is-is in my city!"

"What city is that in?"

"I dunno."

At this Mima sighed. "I'm so screwed."

"Do ya need a screwdriver? Michie's father has one-one."

Mima groaned. 'AM, take me back, please! Anything's better than this stupid situation right now.' "Let's go inside."

"OK-K!" the cheerful child skipped the whole way to her house.

Upon entrance, Michie sat down on the marble flooring as if it was her "secret area" and hers for the taking (well, it actually was, but that's a whole different story to be possibly discussed in later chapters). "Why, Michie! Where on Earth have you been?" Mima turned and snapped to attention as she heard a soft voice emitting from the flowing, elegant staircase behind her, as she knew she had heard that voice before this whole Soul Corridor incident from somewhere. But wherever that was, the voice didn't seem so familiar once she glanced at the gracious, warm face whose voice seemed so much at peace.

"Mima! Mima!" the girl's newfound hikari tugged endlessly at Mima's left sleeve to no avail. "Mima-Mima, that's Michie's mommy," she whispered urgently.

"Yes, yes, Michie, I know." Mima waved the babyish nine-year-old off, then paused. "Waiiiit. You mean to tell me that she," Mima pointed at the lady on the staircase, then continued, "is your mother?"

The 'staircase lady' gracefully tiptoed down the stairway, smiling kindly at Mima. "Good evening! You look like you're one of Michie's school friends; am I correct? Lainie maybe, or Sunny? Anyway, I'm her mother, Lilliana Tadi. But of course you knew that." For the moment, it didn't seem like any part of this serene, refined, charming woman had passed on to her daughter; especially Lilliana's evident adoration for superior attire, Mima noted as she stared at Mrs. Tadi's expensive tastes in fashion.

"Ermâ€ hi. I'm.. yeah. I'm Mima."

"So you're from Michie's school, Kamikawa Academy. It's so nice to see her with friends she made all on her own," smiled Lilliana.

'So does that mean the rest of Michie's so-called friends aren't really close to her, but were paid or something like that by Lilliana?' Mima thought as she acknowledged that she wasn't from Kamikawa, but from another school.

"Oh?" Lilliana looked surprised for a few seconds, then smiled. However, Mima also caught the quick warning glance Lilliana had sent at her daughter when she thought that Mima wasn't looking, thus entirely changing Mima's previous generalizations of this family.

Trying to get out of the uncomfortable situation as quickly as possible, Mima looked at the shimmering silver clock encased in glass, conveniently placed at the top of the stairs. "Oh, I've got to be going," she whispered breathlessly and ran out the door as fast as she could.

"My, my, Michie. You've got a peculiar friend there, Michie darling," sniffed Mrs. Tadi from inside. "Maybe you shouldn't hang out with her for a while."

"Now, if only I could just find a way to record that conversation inside" Mima muttered darkly to herself as she snuck into the spacious Tadi family backyard. "Hm."

"Found it." She gently placed the tape recorder on the windowsill next to the door between the kitchen and dining room. She put on the attached pair of headphones and turned the volume up. "OK, Kami, you've been recommended by AM, now work," she commanded and flicked the record switch "on," listening patiently for any key words that would help at all with her investigation.

Mima heard Michie's loud voice (who within five miles couldn't hear her?) from indoors. "Mother, why do you never let Michie's friend-friends stay long-long?" Then she heard a prickly, sharp, needle-like laugh, which would have to be Lilliana's, as no one was in the room other than Michie and her mother.

"Shut the FREAK UP!" Lilliana shrieked at her child. Mima winced. Ouch. Poor Michie.

'I wonder if she has to put up with this crap every day,' Mima guiltily thought. "It's NONE of your DAMN business ANYWAY," Mrs. Tadi spat at her child.

'Yep, it'd have to be Lilliana. Knew that there was something wrong about her,' Mima shook her head vigorously in complete disgust.

Suddenly Mima heard footsteps. "Lilliana, stop PICKING on her," an unfamiliar voice sighed.

"Really, Theo, what business is it of yours?"

"It's in my interest, and definitely my business, as Michie's my daughter too, and I don't want her to grow up remembering her parents as uneducated fools that had no experience with dealing with children," the crisp voice replied. Ah. So this Theo character was Michie's father. Well, at least he stuck up for his offspring.

"Why, I didn't see you attempting to teach her anything!"

"I didn't see you doing that, either. All you've taught her to do is be a great big snooty, obnoxious little horror who lies on her butt all day requesting, 'maid service!'"

"Shut the hell up, Theo." Lilliana's voice rang throughout the household. Mima almost laughed. What a wide vocabulary Lilliana had, and how smart they sounded on an adult!

"Still haven't grown up completely, I see." Theo sounded smug. Mima carelessly studied her short nails.

"I hate you, freak," mumbled Michie's mother tensely.

There was a loud screech as Theo stood up (Mima could at least see and hear that much from the window without being seen herself) and grabbed something from the table. "Come on, Mich. Let's get out of this dump." The obedient child stood up, ran around the table a few times, then followed her father out the door.

"YOU LITTLE PIECE OF CRAP! GIVE ME BACK MY CREDIT CARDS!" Lilliana yelped and attempted to trail after them before they could get any further. Mima's eyes bugged out as there was a crash on the floor. Broke the marble with her high heels, probably. "Freak. Screw these crappish high heels." Another loud bang as Lilliana threw her high heels out the open window, right above Mima's head. Mima's eyes followed the shoes as they literally flew into the backyard.

She turned off Kami and stuck it (or, to some people, Kami would be referred to as "her") in her pocket. "I can't believe I was so wrong about Lilliana," Mima fumed. "Yet I can't believe I was so right." She walked out the back door, sneaking after Theo and his daughter.

"Halt, evildoer." A pink uniformed adolescent held out her perfectly manicured fingers in a stance familiar to police officers at Mima. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"I'm no evildoer, you big dolt. For your information, I'm Mima Vitone, and AM sent me here."

Miss Pink gasped, stepped backwards, then bowed deeply. "Konnichiwa! I am so sorry to be of interruptance to your investigation! Please forgive me. I wish to be of service to you now. I think I can help you, as I know the Kamikawa neighborhood from front to back. By the way, my name is Hanaakarikawa Sakura. I'm fifteen."

"You look younger." Mima commented as she studied Sakura's features. "Yeah, you can help me. What do you do?"

"I prevent any wars from breaking out between Soul Corridor and this country by making sure no one passes through any portals going to or from Soul Corridor," Sakura stated matter-of-factly.

"Well, you can help preventing a war caused by AM by letting me continue" Mima tapped her foot, gesturing to Theo and Michie, now getting in their car.

"Eheheâ€. Sorry. I'm not good at this that much." Sakura sweatdropped.

"That's sort of obvious." scoffed Mima. "Soâ€ do you usually walk while patrolling, or what?" asked Mima as she jumped into the open trunk of the Ford clearly owned and loved by Theodore Tadi.

"Umm.. stuff like this doesn't usually happen much. All I've been taught to do is recognize the people and families in this neighborhood, and if I see something suspicious, then I .. like, where was I? If I see something that's not.. yeah, then I record it and turn it in to Varia. Most of the time I just walk, because nothing really happens. I can only patrol on weekends, since Varia doesn't let me patrol on weekdays, even when I don't have homework." Sakura muttered gloomily.

"Who's this Varia, anyway?" inquired a puzzled Mima.

"Varia! You knowâ€ Visaria!"

Mima shook her head, still at a blank for whatever Sakura was trying to describe.

"Visaria. Varia. Whatever you wanna call her. The chairman of Soul Corridor. Everyone's boss."

"Do you know about everyone's jobs?" questioned the now fascinated girl as Theo turned on the engine.

"Yep. Who do ya wanna know 'bout?"

"Amane Moon, Everlast, eh.. Yeah, that's it." Mima shrugged.

"Amane? Don't you know? She's right under Varia in rank as librarian, information centre secretary, and entertainment provider, although some say she's slowly manipulating Varia to put her higher and in a few years possibly take over from Varia. However, I've also heard that she and Varia get along very well how they are, so she doesn't want to mess that up" Sakura trailed off. "And Everlast is the hospital's only doctor, so if you're sick or something you'd better not be on her bad side, which a lot of people manage to do for some weird reason."

"Really" Mima mused. "I'd say that the people that say the thing about the manipulating are right," she nodded. "SOâ€ like.. do you know anything about the Tadi family? Well, you probably should, as they're in the neighborhoods you go around in."

"My little sis Kime goes to Michie Tadi's school, and she says that Michie is really nice, generous, playfulâ€ and her mother's really beautiful," Sakura informed Mima. "Mich is ok, but personally I think that Mrs. Tadi's on the snotty side. Theodore's at home a lot, but he tries to avoid any confrontations at all with his wife. Michie just goes on with her life," Sakura commented while removing her silver chain charm bracelet and playing with its attachments.

"At first, I thought Mrs. Tadi was going to be really calm, really beautiful, like your sister said. Then, when I went outside to record their conversation, her voice got.. allâ€, you know, like.. louder, screechier, uncontrollable-like. And that serene picture just fell apart in my hands." Mima shrugged shortly. "It's a bit sad. Both Michie and Lilliana are childish, and want comfort, security, you know?"

"You're soooo right! Ah, shoot, we're stopping," Sakura yelped as Theo pulled to a stop.

"Get outta the trunk once they leave!" hissed Mima as Michie and her father hopped out the car. "They're going to leave, and I need information for AM's relationship status book!"

So Mima and Sakura pushed open the trunk portion of the car and nearly tumbled out headfirst, running after the other two. Mima tripped over a parking stopper as she read where she was on a nearby phone book. "Ah, crap, not more shopping!" she groaned.

"Father-Father?" Mima heard Michie ask Theo as they sat down at a table in the vicinity of the ever-expanding but still overly-crowded Food Court at Kamikawa Mall together.

"Yes, Mich?"

"Why does Mother hate me?" Michie was straight and to-the-point. Her father sat up sharply and gave his daughter a disappointed look.

"Your mother doesn't hate you, Mich," Theo consoled the girl gently.

"Then why does she yell and scream at me when my friends are not around? No one else's mothers do that."

Theo sighed, at a loss for words. "It's complicated, Mich."

"And why don't my friends have 'mothers?'"

"Of course they have mothers."

"No, they all have 'mommies.'" Michie sulked.

Theodore sighed. "Lilliana doesn't like direct confrontations or being close to anyone."

"Did Mother's mommy be like that?" Michie asked, tilting her head to one side as she sipped her blueberry slurpie from Mel's Coffee, right outside the food court.

"No, actually, your grandmother was everything Lilliana wasn't. She was giving, carefree, and didn't worry as much about money as your mother does."

"Then what happened to my grandmama?" Michie's voice was earnest, as this was clearly very significant to her.

"Your grandmama died a few days after your third birthday. Before that, Lilliana was exactly like her mom. After the death, Lilliana felt very vulnerable to pain, especially since your grandmama had promised her that she would see to it that she would live to see you grow up to be a wonderful child. The result was that Lilliana ended up neglecting you to prove to her mother that since she didn't live past three years of your life, you wouldn't grow up to be a great kid like Ashilee had promised." Theo sat still and silent for a moment.

Michie rubbed her nose. "Is that why Mother doesn't love me?"

"Deep down, she probably loves you very much, but you remind her of how she used to be when your grandmama was alive and she was very young, so she doesn't like to be around you."

"OK, that's enough. I can't listen to anymore of this," Mima picked up the tape recorder and turned it off. She exhaled deeply and picked up Kami. "Sorry, Kams, but I can't do this. AM'll have to do the rest." She turned around, only to look directly at AM herself. "Eh"

"Thought you could get away with that?" AM asked bitterly. "I've heard worse tales. Give me that tape recorder."

Sighing, Mima handed over Kami to AM, who pocketed it. Mima gasped. "You mean, you won't..?"

AM shot a dirty look at Mima. "I may seem evil to the point of insanity, but I'm not emotionless, Mima," she whispered in a vampiric voice that nearly froze Mima. "Now, where's that girl that you were hanging around with?"

Mima blinked. "You mean, you knew I was slightly slacking?"

AM narrowed her eyes. "Of course. Now, where is she? I need to speak to her." Amane's tone was quiet but still sharp as she inquired Sakura's whereabouts.

"Erm.. she left a few minutes ago."

AM sighed. "You know, you shouldn't have let her."

"Why not?"

The pale girl's childlike face mocked Mima. "Why not? Varia wants to fire her for not being professional with an Investigator. And as for who the Investigator is, that was you."

"But I enjoyed talking with her!" protested Mima. AM closed her eyes.

"Do me a favor, and just tell me which direction she went in."

"AM! I TOLD you, I have short term memory loss."

"As do I occasionally. Still, I know which direction Riffie goes to for the sugar," AM pointed out.

Mima groaned. "Well, I don't know."

"Then let's go back to Soul Corridor," AM smiled. "And Michie too, as you have already recognized that she needs to be separated from Lilliana. As for Theodore Tadi, his fate will be decided tomorrow."

A blink---and Mima was gone from sight.


End file.
